Travelling to Punta Cana first 11 days of May - Bahia Principe specifically (Bavaro). Wondering if topless at the beaches is still fairly normal there? It’s my preference for sure and I just don’t agree with the big deal over it, but don’t like it when I’m not in at least a small amount of common company. Anyone that’s been recently (say in the past year or so) that can shed some light for me?
How many women at any given time? (I’m comfortable with even only 3 or 4 others)
At the beach? Walking the beach? Swimming? Any around the pools at all?
It won’t make or break our holiday of course, just curious what to expect.
Thanks!

Thanks for the info Debbie! While I do not really get the difference between pools and beach, my hubby and I are not huge pool goers anyhow so no big bummer there.
I’m going to guess that travelling early May though, will be similar to our previous travels same times of year (after spring break and easter) to Playa del Carmen, MX… mostly european holidayers that season based on our experiences. Is that a fairly correct assumption for Punta Cana as well?
Sunning on a lounger sans-top is pretty normal a thing for me personally, but being able to walk the beach or take a quick dip in the ocean top-free without feeling too on my own or out of place would be superb. From your experiences during your visits, should I expect to be alone in that regard?

BTW, I have zero plans to be drunkenly flashing or lewdly presenting myself in any way. I’m talking a casual relaxed pay-no-nevermind type beach stroll or cool dip in the water.

You don’t say where you’re from? So, I would say just do as do at your own home beach LOL. Toronto allows toplessness but not sure people do it much. You’ll be fine in PUJ, some people will stare and if the clientele at the time is mostly European you won’t get a second look and some people just get all freaked out by it LOL.

I agree with Debbie. It does depend on other clientele. When there’s more Europeans, it’s pretty common. More North Americans, not so.

At most of the pools, there are usually signs saying “No topless”. It’s their property and they can set the rules. The beach is another thing. They really don’t own any thing from the high water mark down. As Debbie says, you can get away with it at the beach, walking the beach etc. Yes, it is frowned upon by the locals but then again you’re not likely to encounter many of them on the beach in front of your hotel. If you venture to another more public beach, that’s a different story.

Have a great vacation and do what you feel comfortable with.

It’s been a few years since we vacationed in the Punta Cana area, but it was pretty common then. It wasn’t that common in Puerto Plata or in Samana (this year). Even then, when you saw it, no one seemed to pay any particular attention. What did surprise me was the number of people changing in to and out of their swim suits on the beach, even when the restroom was only a few hundred feet away.

Just came back from Punta Cana / Bahia Principe Ambar.
Curiously my wife and I commented about this matter.
The only one woman she saw doing topless was at the beach on Bahia Principe Bavaro.
None at any of the pools, walking on the beach or swimming.

Well …we completely forgot to update about our experience last year and the Punta Cana topless climate. Yikes! Sorry to be THOSE people!!!

We were there the first week and a half of May 2016. My conclusion?

Not wearing a thong bottom of some kind meant you were waaaaaaay in the minority. T-backs, triangle-backs, super cheekies, or just plain really cheeky was about all there was. Only a handful of “diaper-bottoms” as my friend calls them (lol) …even on the bigger ladies.

Topless was different. Not super-duper common I suppose, but based on many reviews I’ve read, I guess it just must depend on the particular week and the particular clientele and where they’re from. During our particular stay, I was one of at least four or five ladies in bottoms only at any given time at the beach for our specific resort (Bahia Bavaro).
When we walked the beach? I’d say on average there were maybe two or three women laying out sunning in bottoms only at just about every resort we passed.
Walking the beach topless? Wasn’t quite as commmon as sunning, although common enough that I didn’t feel a spectacle when I did. But on pretty much every beach walk we took (we walk beaches for at least an hour a couple times daily on our holidays), we did pass probably three or four women walking along ever so nonchalantly in just their bottoms (ages from mid-twenties to I’d say early fifties, sometimes alone, sometimes two together, and sometimes with their lucky fellow). No lewd, crude, or offensive behaviour. Just super casual-like… the way it should be . And many times during our walks there were women up and out for a dip to cool off in just their bottoms also. Even noticed the odd mom knelt in the sand near the water playing with her children without concern for a top.

Oh… yes there were “no topless” signs posted by the pools. But our room overlooked the Bavaro pool at the centre of the resort and there was a lady out sunning almost every morning with a glass in one hand, a cigarette in the other… and yep, her top draped over the lounger. And while I do disagree with flat-out ignoring a posted sign in lieu of personal beliefs (aka blatant disrespect), nobody cared one little bit even when the pool got a bit busier as lunch time approached.

Agree or disagree, I do have to say though, that with so much violent and horror-type imagery on the rise and being publicly accepted these days, and with sexual body shaming and celebrated lewdness at an all-time high (in my opinion…I happen to have a teen daughter), it was very refreshing to see such healthy and non-discriminatory body attitudes from even younger generations…both partaking and witnessing…from both the fellas and ladies.